外国汉学家对中国的方志文化日益重视和推崇,并进行深入研究,从而更凸显出方志文化的文化价值和文化意义。文章以加拿大汉学家卜正民所著的《明代的社会与国家》为例,管窥外国汉学家对中国方志是如何认知、研究、评价的,其研究的动机、力度及特色,以及取得的成果。在世界各国的文化交流日益密切和文化大发展的时代,中国的方志文化理应在世界文化的格局中占有一席之地。 Foreign sinologists pay more and more attention to Chinese local culture, and conduct in-depth research, which further highlights the cultural value and cultural significance of local culture. Taking the “Han society” and “the society of the Ming Dynasty” by Bu Zhengmin, a Canadian scholar, as an example, this paper gives a glimpse of how foreign sinologists perceive, study and evaluate Chinese chronicles. Their motivation, intensity and characteristics as well as their achievements are also analyzed. In the era of increasingly close cultural exchanges and great cultural development in all countries in the world, the Chinese chronicles culture should occupy a place in the pattern of world culture.